Stocks Push Off Day's Lows; Regeneron Cuts More Losses

Stocks have trimmed losses late Tuesday, ahead of the start of the fourth-quarter earnings season.

The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 lost 0.5% each. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq was down 0.4%. All three were off by 0.7% at Tuesday's low. Turnover was tracking lower on the Nasdaq and a touch higher on the NYSE.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) has cut its earlier 7% loss by half. The drugmaker earlier reported net fourth-quarter sales of $276 million for its Eylea treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration. Analysts had expected $264.2 million for Q4, according to Bloomberg. Regeneron has lost money for a number of years, but it's expected to turn a profit of $3.48 a share for 2012. The stock appears to be forming a base and recently found support at its 50-day line.

Stratasys (SSYS) and rival 3D printer maker 3D Systems (DDD) were off their session lows, but still down 3% and 5%, respectively. They have been volatile in recent months, but each has gained more than 20% from its latest buy point. Investors should consider taking some profits once they amount to 20% to 25%.

On the upside, Celgene (CELG) gapped up and ran 5% to an all-time high. It's now 11% past an 81.34 buy point in a flat base. The biotech won a slew of upgrades and price hikes from Jefferies, Piper Jaffray, RBC Capital Markets and Stifel Nicolaus. At the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, Celgene said it expects annual revenue to more than double to $12 billion in 2017.

Alcoa (AA) was fractionally higher in seesaw trading ahead of its fourth-quarter results after the close. Analysts are expecting a profit of 6 cents a share vs. a year-ago loss of 3 cents. Sales are slated to dip 6% to $5.6 billion.

Stocks have trimmed losses late Tuesday, ahead of the start of the fourth-quarter earnings season.

The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 lost 0.5% each. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq was down 0.4%. All three were off by 0.7% at Tuesday's low. Turnover was tracking lower on the Nasdaq and a touch higher on the NYSE.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) has cut its earlier 7% loss by half. The drugmaker earlier reported net fourth-quarter sales of $276 million for its Eylea treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration. Analysts had expected $264.2 million for Q4, according to Bloomberg. Regeneron has lost money for a number of years, but it's expected to turn a profit of $3.48 a share for 2012. The stock appears to be forming a base and recently found support at its 50-day line.

Stratasys (SSYS) and rival 3D printer maker 3D Systems (DDD) were off their session lows, but still down 3% and 5%, respectively. They have been volatile in recent months, but each has gained more than 20% from its latest buy point. Investors should consider taking some profits once they amount to 20% to 25%.

On the upside, Celgene (CELG) gapped up and ran 5% to an all-time high. It's now 11% past an 81.34 buy point in a flat base. The biotech won a slew of upgrades and price hikes from Jefferies, Piper Jaffray, RBC Capital Markets and Stifel Nicolaus. At the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, Celgene said it expects annual revenue to more than double to $12 billion in 2017.

Alcoa (AA) was fractionally higher in seesaw trading ahead of its fourth-quarter results after the close. Analysts are expecting a profit of 6 cents a share vs. a year-ago loss of 3 cents. Sales are slated to dip 6% to $5.6 billion.

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